


The World Above

by Waddles889



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Big Brother Sans, Established Undyne/Alphys - Freeform, Gen, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Nightmares, Nonbinary Character, Post-Pacifist Route, Protective Sans, Reader Is Frisk, Some Fluff, Some angst, Spaghetti, Spoilers, frisk having nightmares, just kidding it's really sad, more tags to be added later, school teacher toriel, some sad, spoilers for pacifist and genocide and some neutral endings, starts off happy but don't be fooled
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2016-01-31
Packaged: 2018-05-04 20:59:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5348327
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waddles889/pseuds/Waddles889
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Frisk begins to have nightmares about things they feel have happened to them before. Frisk does not handle this well and Sans and Toriel have to find out why. While they do that, everyone else tries to prevent them. But this has some consequences.</p><p>(discontinued, sorry!!!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Anime

**Author's Note:**

> Non binary Frisk. Post pacifist. No relationships other than Undyne and Aphys thus far. I'm still working on this.

You lean against the fence and rub your neck. Your hand drops to your side and you let out an exasperated sigh. School isn't very fun, even through you're in your mom's class. The kids are annoying and it's hard to keep track of all of your homework.

At least Mom will be there with nice, warm tea when you get home. You usually stay after school to avoid the large crowds and to get some of your work done. It can be frustrating when fish warriors are trying to teach you how to cook pasta when you have a science project due tomorrow.

You push yourself into a standing position and rub your arms to generate some body heat. It's much colder up on the surface than it is in the underground.

You walk down the path towards your house. Colorful leaves crunch beneath your feet and a crisp, cold breeze stings your cheek. The fall is so pretty. You're so glad that the monsters can see it for themselves. A squirrel sits on the trail in front of you, nibbling on a nut. What an adorable creature! Quickly, you pull out your phone and snap a picture of it. You know that Papyrus would be so happy to see it later.

Soon, the tall house looms before you, surrounded by walls, but with wide open gates. Just to make sure that you don't accidentally lock the door, you test the knob. Of course, it swings wide open. Toriel never locks it when she knows you're coming home soon.

"I'm home, Mom!" you call out. Your voice echoes through the huge house.

"Great! Your tea is in the kitchen, my child." comes Toriel's voice.

You enter the kitchen to see a cute little mug filled with steaming tea. You sit at the table and take a sip. Just the right temperature. Obviously. Toriel makes sure that her tea doesn't burn your tongue.

Mom comes in, giving you a warm, comforting hug. Her hugs are the only hugs that could make you feel like this, like everything in the world is okay and that nothing could go wrong.

"I have to go run some errands now, my child. Can you manage while I'm gone?"

You nod. You've been through worse than simple hours home alone.

She nods back, "Okay, I'll be back as soon as possible. Love you!"

She heads out of the house and you look down into your mug. The tea is sparkly. Magical, maybe? You shrug and wrap your cold hands around it, enjoying its warmth. You look out the window as you drink the tea. Someone was walking up the front pathway.

They were carrying a spear. Not again! Undyne was nice, but if she kept you from your homework one more night, you swear-

There's a loud banging on the door.

You sigh and slide off of the chair still clutching the mug, to open it. As soon as it opens ever so slightly, she slams it into the wall, shouting, "NGAHHH!!"

"Ah!" you yelp, leaping backwards. A few drops of tea splash onto the floor. Such good tea... Well, at least the ground could enjoy it, too.

"Undyne, Papyrus isn't here. So you'll have to look for him somewhere else. Maybe he's with Sans," you say.

"I know. I ran into him earlier. I came to see YOU, punk!" she exclaims, perhaps a bit too excited.

"What could we possibly do this time?" you ask in surprise.

"Cook, duh!"

"How about no? We could go see Alphys..." you suggest, "or Sans and Papyrus..."

"Of course not! We need to be even better friends than before! Lead us to the kitchen!"

"We could watch Anime!" you finally bring up.

"Yes! We shall call up Alphys and Papyrus and Sans and everyone else and watch Anime! GET THE SPAGHETTI!"

Phew, you think, now the kitchen won't get destroyed.

But now you have to watch Anime. Reluctantly, you pull out your phone and call Papyrus.

It rings twice before someone picks up.

"IT IS I, THE GREAT AND POWERFUL PAPYRUS!" he shouts through the phone. But not nearly as loud as Undyne does.

"Hi, Papyrus. It's Frisk. Undyne was wondering if you and Sans wanted to come over and watch Anime. There'll be spaghetti!" you say.

"i don't know, doing nothing sounds pretty awesome right now," comes Sans' voice.

"SANS! OF COURSE WE'LL GO!"

"whatever, bro."

The phone is hung up.

Next you call Alphys.

The phone rings five times and is picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi Alphys! It's Frisk! Undyne and I were wondering if you wanted to come over to watch Anim-" the word Anime is barely out of your mouth when she replies with,

"Yeah! Of course, of course, yeah! I'll be there!"

And the phone is hung up.

In under three minutes, Papyrus and Sans arrive.

"GREETINGS, FRIENDS! I HAVE ARRIVED!" Papyrus yells.

"sup, kiddo," says Sans, "we drove through the cemetery to get here."

"Why?" you ask, confused.

"because i've been dying to see you."

"Noooooooo!" you cry, and sink to your knees dramatically, your hands clenched in fists.

"don't be ashamed to laugh, my jokes are killer,"

"Help me!" you yell in defeat as you grab onto Sans' jacket to make him stop.

"what, didn't your mom give you the tuTORIEL on puns?" Sans continued.

"Make it stop!" you giggle, tears of laughter rolling down your cheeks.

A knock on the door silences Sans. Finally! Those puns were killing you.

Undyne opens the door for Alphys. They hug each other and Undyne says, "Which anime did you bring?"

Alphys smiles. "Which one do you think?" she asks.

"Not Mew Mew Kissy Cutie!"

"It's obviously Mew Mew Kissy Cutie,"

Alphys runs over to the TV and puts the disc in the DVD player. While she gets it set up, Papyrus leaves the room to prepare spaghetti.

So much for the kitchen staying tidy.

Sans plops down onto the couch, watching Alphys struggle with the settings. Apparently setting up anime to watch was hard.

"hey papyrus," Sans says.

"NOT NOW SANS, I'M BUSY," Papyrus responds.

"why are skeletons so calm?"

"NO SANS!"

You brace yourself for the joke.

"because nothing gets under our skin."

"NOOOO!"

Papyrus comes back into the living room with plates and a pot of spaghetti just as Alphys succeeds with setting up the anime. She presses play and races back to the couch to sit by Undyne.

You sit between Papyrus and Sans, a plate of pasta on your lap. Hesitantly, you twirl some on the fork and put it in your mouth. Surprisingly, it doesn't taste half bad. You turn to Sans with a look of confusion on your face. He takes your fork and takes a bite of the noodles. He looks surprised.

'it's edible!' Sans mouths.

'I know!' you mouth back.

You share the spaghetti, and when you finish, you pull out a worksheet and a pencil.

"whatcha doin kiddo?" Sans asks.

You show him your paper.

"math, huh? what are the odds?" Sans jokes.

You just groan.

You finish your math halfway through the anime. Obviously, you have no idea what's going on. All you know is that there's a princess who's beating people up. Instead of trying to find out what's happening, you lean on Sans, zoning out for a bit. You feel Sans wrap a bony arm around you, giving you a one-armed hug.

***

You wake up in your bedroom. The clock reads 3 am. What a horrible time to start your day. You roll over and try to go back to sleep, but then you realize that you were on the couch watching Mew Mew Kissy Cutie just a minute ago. You must have fallen asleep. Now that you think about it, you remember waking up briefly in Sans' arms as he carried you up the stairs.

Sans seems like this lazy guy without a care in the world, but he is really protective over you and Papyrus. Even though you're not related to him, he still acts like a big brother. The thought relaxes you and you drift off to sleep.


	2. Hot Chocolate and Snowball Fights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> School is cancelled and Frisk decides to have some fun in the snow with some friends! Undyne stops by during a snowball fight with Sans and Papyrus and things get chaotic, and there are many snow puns, but hey, they had an ice time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The first chapters are a little short, sorry!!!

You wake up, checking the clock. It reads 8 am. Panicked, you throw off the covers. School starts at 8:20. You had already missed the bus.

Toriel hears you rush down the stairs. Why was she so calm? You were late! She hands you a mug of cocoa.

"Calm down, my child. School was cancelled today," she laughs.

Gratefully, you sip the hot chocolate. Whipped cream pokes your nose. You smile and wipe it off with your sleeve.

"It snowed too much and we can't make it to school. So now we can have a snow day!" Toriel says excitedly. She gives you a quick hug and enters the kitchen, where a pile of pancakes awaits you. There's no way you can eat all of this!

You take a bite and sigh in content. These are the best pancakes you've ever had!

"Papyrus helped make those. I thought that he should have a real cooking lesson for once," Toriel comments.

You look at her with a questioning look on your face. Papyrus was here? But how? The snow made it impossible to go anywhere.

"Oh, he walked. I think he forced Sans to come, too. They're in the living room."

You finish shoveling down your pancakes and put your plate in the sink. You enter the living room to see Sans sitting on the couch and Papyrus trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle. He has two pieces together and is now staring at the box.

"HUMAN! I COMMAND THAT YOU HELP ME SOLVE THIS PUZZLE! IT SEEMS IMPOSSIBLE! HOW DID THEY GET ALL THIS LITTLE PIECES TO MAKE THIS HUGE PICTURE?" Papyrus says.

"i think they draw the picture and then cut it into little pieces," Sans comments.

"YOU STAY OUT OF THIS! I DON'T WANT YOU GETTING FRUSTRATED!"

"i wasn't even going to help in the first place," Sans replies,"sleep okay?" he asks, turning to you. He seems a bit concerned, and he looks at you with anticipation.

You nod and rub your eyes, yawning. Even though you slept okay, you didn't sleep great. There's a difference between okay and great.

"man, if it keeps snowing, we'll get snowdin," Sans says, winking.

You and Papyrus groan.

"SANS! STOP WITH THESE HORRIBLE JOKES!" Papyrus yells. You nod in agreement, grinning. Sans rolls his eyes(does he have eyes?) and goes back to doing nothing. How is he not bored yet? He's been staring at the wall for who knows how long.

Papyrus fits another piece into the puzzle. "HAHA!" he yells, "I HAVE DEFEATED YOU!"

"not quite yet bro. you still have 97 pieces to go."

"YOU ARE NOT MAKING THIS ANY EASIER, SANS. IF YOU KNOW SO MUCH ABOUT PUZZLES, COME HELP ME!" Papyrus groans in frustration.

"nah, doing nothing sounds much more appealing to me right now." Sans says nonchalantly and yawns.

You grin and run behind Papyrus. You cover his eyesockets with your hands and put your chin on the top of his skull.

"HUMAN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? I CANNOT SEE."

You giggle a little as he stands up, but you sit on his shoulder blades, keeping his eyes covered. Papyrus tries to pry your fingers away from his eyes, but he fails miserably.

"AH! TINY HANDS! MY ONLY WEAKNESS!" he cries. Sans is snickering. "HUMAN! I BEG OF YOU, HAVE MERCY ON ME!" he continues.

You laugh louder as he waves his hands around wildly, trying to walk around. Finally, you take your hands off of his eyes.

"THANK YOU, HUMAN, FOR SPARING ME! I AM VERY GRATEFUL. NOW I WILL NOT RUN INTO WALLS BLINDLY," Papyrus says as he lifts you off of his shoulders and places you gently on the ground. You sit down in front of the puzzle and attach a few pieces to it. Papyrus stares in awe.

"SO EFFORTLESS!! NOW YOU ONLY HAVE 94 PIECES LEFT!!!"

Your smile stays on your face the whole time you work on the puzzle. But now your cheeks hurt a lot. Smiling is a work out. On your face.

"Sans. Sans look," you say. The first words you've said all day.

"hm?" he says as he opens one eye. You've solved the puzzle. It's a picture of spaghetti.

"Bone-appetit!" you say. Papyrus groans, but Sans laughs.

"SANS! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE! THE HUMAN IS POISONED WITH YOUR PUNS!" Papyrus cries.

Sans shrugs, looking pleased with himself. Incredibly pleased with himself.

What a weird skeleton. But all skeletons are weird skeletons.

Bored quickly, you try to find something to do. The only thing that comes to mind is playing in the snow. So you tug on Papyrus' scarf and point to the window. He looks outside.

"YOU WANT TO GO OUTSIDE? BUT IT'S COLD. I KNOW THIS BECAUSE NO ONE IS OUTSIDE."

"maybe all the skeletons are staying inside because they have no body to play in the snow with."

"NOOOO!!!!" Papyrus yells in annoyance.

You pull on a winter coat and snowboots. You're about to walk out the door when Toriel walks in and says, "Sans and Papyrus might be immune to cold, but you aren't. You need to wear more than just a coat and boots."

You protest, but in no time, you're bundled from head to toe and beginning to sweat. You have more layers on than a Glamburger.

"papyrus, have you ever wondered why Frisk is like an onion?"

Oh no.

"NOT NOW SANS."

"because they have layers."

You are so done.

You waddle over to the door and struggle with the handle. Gloves make it impossible to open doors without someone's help. How Papyrus does it, you will never know. Eventually, Toriel opens the door and you waddle out into the snow. A blast of cold air hits your face, refreshing you from the heat of your clothes and the house.

As soon as Toriel closes the door, Sans and Papyrus help you take off three fluffy coats, five scarves, two hats, four mittens, and seven pairs of socks, leaving you with just one coat, one scarf, one hat, one pair of mittens, and two socks. Like a normal person would wear outside.

Immediately, you bend down and pack some snow into what seems to be a snowball. It's not a snowball. It's a snowdecagon. You throw it at Papyrus.

"AAAH! TREASON!" he cries.

A snowball hits you in the back of the head. You turn. Sans is standing there, grinning, tossing another one up in the air and catching it. Beaming, you hurl the snow at him and take off running.

Someone casually strolls by and sees you engaged in your snowball fight.

"Punks! You call that a snowball fight? I'll give you a snowball war!" she shouts.

It's Undyne.

Of course it's Undyne.

A snowball the size of your face hits you in the stomach and you fall to the ground. Carefully, you roll it off of you and throw one of your own snowballs at Undyne.

Eventually, after you're covered in snow and your fingers are numb, you collapse into the snow, laughing. It's good to spend time with your friends. School has really been stressing you out. The amount of homework you have and the amount of time you have to do it is ridiculous.

"hey kiddo," Sans says, offering you a hand, "we should probably get inside. you look chilled to the bone."

You and Papyrus groan. But Sans helps you up and Undyne waves goodbye as she spots Alphys walking down the road.

Toriel smiles as you come in, and hands you some tea.

"You look cold, my child. Sit by the fireplace. It'll help to warm you up," she says, wrapping a blanket over you.

***

The rest of the day passes without incident. Not much else happens, except Undyne calling and yelling into the phone that Mettaton was at her house and lying on the piano. He was also feeding himself grapes and refusing to drink tea.

You look out the window. Huge, fluffy flakes of snow pelted down from the sky at full force. There was no way Sans and Papyrus were walking home. Or even taking a shortcut.

"Would you like to spend the night here? It looks like we're Snowdin," Toriel offers.

"sure, why not. we can afford to chill," Sans replies with a grin.

Papyrus groans.

***

Toriel pulls the covers up to your chin, along with several other blankets.

"I do not want you to freeze, my child. Do you need anything else? Teeth are brushed, pajamas on, and hair is washed?"

You shake your head to the needing anything, but nod to the other things she mentions.

"Good. If you need anything, you can text me. I know that it is very cold and you do not want to get out of bed," she plants a kiss on your forehead, "good night, my child."

Toriel turns off the lamp and leaves the room.

You snuggle deeper into your cocoon of warmth and close your eyes, drifting off to sleep.

***

"it's a beautiful day outside. birds are singing. flowers are blooming. on days like these, kids like you...

SHOULD BE BURNING IN HELL."

Sans' voice echoes through the huge hallway. In confusion, you look around. You're in the judgement hall. But you didn't reset, did you? And why was Sans acting like this?

There's a knife in your hand.

Sans' eye glows blue and bones erupt from the floor around you. You run at him to try to get him to stop, but he dodges easily. He lifts his hand upwards and you fly into the air. You could touch the ceiling.

Suddenly, you're slammed hard into the ground. The tiles crack beneath you and you feel your soul shatter into a million pieces as Sans says, "geeeeeeetttttttt dunked on!"

You sit bolt upright. Your side aches, but you're not dead. It was just a dream. But a horrible dream. And it felt unbelievably real. A tear rolls down your cheek.

Soon, the tears are flowing freely. You bury your face in your hands and sob. Couldn't you just have a pleasant dream for once?

The door to your room opens slowly. You barely acknowledge it as you wipe your nose with your sleeve.

A hand touches your shoulder. When you see who it is, you visibly flinch and recoil in fear.

"whoa, kiddo, what's up?"

You have to remind yourself that Sans won't hurt you.

"I had a scary dream," you whisper. It's barely audible.

"do you wanna talk about it?" Sans offers.

You look at him for a second. Did you really want to tell him that you had a nightmare about him?

"Don't get mad at me," you say.

"why would i get mad at you for having a dream?"

"It was about you."

Sans doesn't reply for a moment. You can't figure out what he's thinking.

"what did i do?" he finally asks.

"You were angry at me. I think I did something bad. Then you attacked me. You slammed me against the ground with your blue magic and it hurt a lot."

Sans is silent. So you hug him and bury your face in his jacket.

"it's okay, frisk. i didn't hurt you. and i won't," he says, hugging you back. It sounds like he's reassuring himself more than you.

He ruffles your hair and tucks you back in before leaving and closing the door quietly.

Your eyelids grow heavy, and the world fades from around you.


	3. Wrestling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Toriel discusses dreams in class, Napstablook teaches music class with Shyren, and Undyne has a wrestling tournament. Also, Frisk is exhausted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prepare yourself. (There's some creepy).

You awake to a blaring alarm. Stupid school. Why did you have to go to school? Couldn't you just absorb knowledge by falling asleep on books? That would make life so much easier. Maybe you should try it some time.

The alarm grows louder. In frustration, you try to hit the button on the top to make it stop beeping, but instead smack it off of the table where it breaks.

"Another alarm clock has perished at the hands of the almighty Frisk, I see," Toriel says as she walks in, carrying a tray. Yay, breakfast in bed.

"Unfortunately, school was not cancelled today. You can come up with me, though. I do not believe that you like riding the bus with the other children, correct?"

You nod your head and take a bite of oatmeal. Brown sugar cinnamon. The best.

"Sans told me you had a nightmare last night." You nod again. "That's the fourth one this week, my child. Perhaps we should go in for help," Toriel suggests, "to a therapist of some kind."

You shake your head. Therapists would be too confused to help you. What would they do to help a kid who lived with monsters? They might think that the monsters were the cause of the nightmares. They might send you away. They might send you back to your parents. You don't want to go back to your parents.

Toriel kisses your hair and leaves the room. "Whatever you think will help, my child."

***

You come down the stairs, grab your lunch box, and shove it in your backpack. You're about to head out the door with Toriel, but Papyrus blocks the way.

"YOU NEED TO WEAR A COAT, FRISK. OTHERWISE YOU WILL BE TOO COLD AND YOU MIGHT GET SICK," he says, handing you your favorite winter coat.

You give him a thumbs up, wave good bye to Sans, and follow Toriel out the door.

The city bus comes and you hold onto Toriel's hand as she enters it. You expect to be ridiculed for holding a goat's hand, but instead, you just hear normal chatter. You open your eyes and look around. There are actually quite a few monsters on the bus that you recognize, including Froggit, Snowdrake, and Greater Dog.

The humans seem used to Toriel, though there are a few stares.

When you reach the school, you walk quickly with your head down, trying to block out the world around you. Toriel tells you to play with the other children, but you shake your head and try to finish up your social studies homework before the kids come in.

Somebody walks in, so you put away your homework and pull out a book. When they sit next to you, you sigh in relief. It's just Monster Kid.

"Yo Frisk! What did you do yesterday?" they ask you.

"Hung with Papyrus," you say, not wanting to talk. They understand this and shove their face into their backpack. This is normal for Monster Kid. They don't have arms.

The bell rings and children pour into the room like spiders into a cup.

"Hello, my children. How was your snow day yesterday?" Toriel asks, taking her place at the front of the room.

There are a few mumbles of, "okay", "good", and "fine, I guess". There's one, "FANTABULOUS!" from Monster Kid.

"That's great! I have decided that we are going to talk about something very interesting today," Toriel continues, and you see kids sit up straighter in their desks.

"We are going to talk about dreams."

You sit up taller. She probably is talking about this because of your nightmares, but you don't mind. Dreams is an interesting topic.

"Does anybody know why we dream?"

Someone raises their hand hesitantly, "To keep us healthy?"

"That might be the case. No body is actually sure, and that is a good theory. People say that dreams symbolize things we are going through in our life. Has anyone had a dream about being chased by something?"

A few hands raise up into the air.

"What do you think it means?"

"Maybe it means something about avoiding priorities?"

"Yes, exactly. It could mean that you are avoiding something. It could also have something to do with what was chasing you. What are some other dreams you have had?" Toriel continues.

Monster Kid lifts a ruler up into the air with their mouth.

"Yes, Monster Kid?" "I had a dream about falling off of a cliff once," they say, "and then I almost did afterwards in real life. But Frisk helped me up! And I didn't die!"

There are gasps and questions. Many people stare in wonder at you.

"Well, many theories say that a dream about falling occurs when something in your life is going in the complete opposite direction. For example, if you are planning something and nothing goes the way you planned it, you might have a falling dream."

Many more people are interested now and are shouting out dreams they've had. Toriel tries her best to answer all of them, but there are just too many.

"Since we are mostly focusing on nightmares, let's talk about those. Nightmares occur when someone is stressed, afraid, are sick, and/or have emotional problems. Would anyone like to share their nightmares to the class? You don't have too, but it would be nice if someone participated," with those words, she looks straight at you.

"Yo, Frisk, is she looking at you? You'd better share your dreams, man, because she's looking right at you!" Monster Kid encourages you. So slowly, you raise your hand just a little bit.

"Yes, Frisk? Would you like to share your dreams with the class?" Toriel asks, but it's obvious that you have to.

"Well, I had one dream where I was being attacked by Sans.. and one where everyone was scared of me... and one where Mettaton ruled the underground..." you say quietly. Barely anyone can hear you.

"Well, let's start with the first one. Sans attacked you in that one, did he not? So this shows betrayal. The second one, everyone is scared of you, correct? Perhaps it means that you are afraid to talk to people. I'm not sure what to make of the third one."

"What do you mean, betrayal?"

"I mean that someone close to you has betrayed you in some way."

"No, no one has."

"Well, I'm not sure what to tell you, my child." The bell rings once again, and everyone runs out of the classroom.

"Do we have gym or music today?" Monster Kid asks.

"Music."

"Okay thanks, dude!"

You follow everyone to the music room, your hands in your pockets and your head down. Shyren is the music teacher today, it seems. Once, it was Mettaton. That was, well, an interesting class to say the least.

"Hello class. I am Shyren. You remember me from last time. Today we have a special guest. No, it is not Mettaton. But they know Mettaton. Come out here, special guest."

A ghost floats through the wall.

"was i supposed to come out at this time.... oh no, you're all staring at me..... oh no......." the ghost starts to fade away, but you give them a thumbs up and they come back into focus.

"i like to make music... i usually share it on a music sharing forum but i'll share it with you today.... if you want to hear it..."

Everybody smiles and gives thumbs ups. Some whistle.

Napstablook floats over to a CD player and puts in a ghost CD. It phases right through it. "oh no.. it didn't go in... oh no..........."

"Perhaps you put it on your music sharing website," Shyren suggests.

Napstablook logs in to their account on the website and searches their creations. Finally, they pull up a song called "Ghost Fight" and plug the computer into the speakers. The music blares through the speakers and a few people start dancing. You shoot Napstablook a thumbs up and do a little dance.

***

"Do you want to ride home with me, my child?" Toriel offers.

You shake your head.

"You can't walk home, though, because of the snow, my child." You nod and show her a text from Sans.

(TEXT MODE)

hey kiddo is school over yet

Yes

undyne has a wrestling tournament today and she wants us all to come except maybe tori and asgore because they wouldn't understand wrestling apparently

Okay

so i can pick you up

Don't you ride a moped

yeah but we can take a shortcut

Okay

tell tori

Okay

(END TEXT MODE)

"Alright, you can go see Undyne wrestle. But remember, you still have homework," Toriel finally responds after reading the conversation.

Immediately, Sans rides in on his green motorbike.

"hi tori. hi frisk. let's go," Sans says, checking a random watch he suddenly has.

"Hello Sans..."

"sorry, is this a bad time?"

"No?"

"sorry, it's nothing to grind your gears about," Sans replies.

Toriel bursts out laughing. You groan, but you smile anyway as you climb on the back of Sans' moped and put on a bulky helmet.

As soon as Toriel waves good bye, Sans takes off into traffic at an insane speed. You have to cling to him for dear life as he swerves off the road and straight into a patch of air that ripples slightly.

In an instant, you're at the wrestling tournament.

Papyrus runs up and drags you both into the back area. Undyne also runs up and lifts you into the air.

"You guys made it!" she celebrates as Alphys walks up, smiling.

"I can't wait to see you flip someone into the crowd," you say.

"I know! It'll be great! Well, you'd better get going. The show is about to start soon!" Undyne yells and Papyrus leads you to your seats. They're in the VIP area, so you have the best view.

The announcer steps up and says that whoever manages to beat Undyne will win money, a trophy, and bragging rights. If Undyne wins, she gets all of those.

The first wrestler enters the ring. Undyne doesn't move at first. The idiot wrestler comes at her and she flips him onto his back, hard. First one down, a lot more to go.

After a while, Undyne has beaten multiple more wrestlers. One was slammed into the ceiling, one was thrown into the crowd, one smashed through the net surrounding the ring, and one just ran. It reminded you of when you fought Undyne yourself.

The last wrestler enters the ring. Even though Undyne is obviously going to win, all of you, including Sans, are standing up and cheering her on. Undyne turns her head and winks at you.

In no time, the wrestler has done a triple flip into the crowd.

Cheers erupt from everywhere. Alphys is standing on her seat, yelling in triumph. You give a whistle and applaud loudly. Undyne claims the trophy and gestures for you to meet her in the back.

"Un-Undyne, th-that was amazing!" Alphys cries.

"man, we should get frisk home soon. they look bone tired," Sans comments.

Everyone nods.

"How late do you stay up, kid? Jeez," Undyne remarks.

"M-maybe it's from n-nightmares?" Alphys says, "their lack of sleep, I mean."

"WHATEVER IT IS, WE SHOULD GET FRISK HOME. THEY LOOK INCREDIBLY EXAUGHSTED. SANS, YOU HAVE A SHORTCUT RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEIR HOUSE, RIGHT? USE THAT."

Sans nods and leads you out to his moped. Within no time, you're in front of your own house.

Your tired eyes begin to see things that shouldn't be there. A knife lays on the ground, covered in dust. Papyrus' severed head lays in the snow. A smiling flower follows you with its eyes as you pass. Toriel's soul shatters before your eyes. Blood stains the trees and the pathway.

You start to feel dizzy. The edge of your vision is dark and you feel light headed. You hold your forehead in your hand as the world begins to tilt and your vision goes gray.

"kid. kid, are you okay?" Sans asks. His voice is distant.

You feel like you're plummeting into open space. The noise of the outside world sounds far away. The last thing you remember is Sans calling your name.

***

The toy knife slices through Toriel's stomach. Tears well up in her eyes.

"Did you really hate me that much?" she asks in horror. "Now I see who I was protecting. Not you... But them!"

Her body turns to dust. A white heart appears in front of you. It splits in half and shatters into a million pieces.

Undyne rambles about how Alphys is going to tell Asgore about this. She melts into the ground and her soul shatters. You grin.

One by one, you witness not only the death of your friends, but the death of every single monster. You want to stop, but you can't.

Asgore doesn't recognize that you're a human. You slice him from top to bottom with your knife. A real knife. Little white bullets surround him and close in, turning him to dust. Flowey.

"See? I never betrayed you! It was all a trick, see?" he's terrified. Of you. "I was waiting to kill him for you! After all, it's me, your best friend! I can be useful to you! I promise I won't get in your way!" his voice begins to shake, "I can help... I can... I can..." Flowey's eyes fill with tears. "Please don't kill me..." he begs.

You swing your knife and slice him in half. You cut him down farther. He's flat against the ground. Dust spills from him and still you swing your blade. Soon, all that's left is fine dust.

A smiling child wearing a green and yellow striped sweater appears in front of you.

"Greetings. I am Chara. Thank you. Your power awakened me from death. My 'human soul'. My 'determination'. They were not mine, but YOURS."

You aren't sure how to feel about this.

"At first, I was so confused," Chara continues, "Our plan had failed, hadn't it? How had I been brought back to life?

...

You.

With your guidance, I realized the purpose of my reincarnation. Power. Together, we eradicated the enemy and became strong. HP. DEF. ATK. GOLD. EXP. LV. Every time a number increases, that feeling... Is me. 'Chara'. Now. Now we have reached the absolute. There is nothing left for us here. Let us erase this pointless world, and move onto the next."

How the heck could you erase everything? All of your friends, and your lives? Their lives and relationships?

You shake your head.

"No...? Hm... How curious. You must have misunderstood." Chara's eyes go completely black. "SINCE WHEN WERE YOU THE ONE IN CONTROL?" Chara's eyes turn bright red as they smile and blood pours from their eyes. Sharp pain runs all along your body as they slice you from your throat to your stomach with the sharpest knife you have ever seen.

"This is all just a bad dream!" a sweet voice calls out to you.

"A N D  Y O U ' R E  N E V E R  W A K I N G  U P!"

***

You sit bolt up right, soaked in cold sweat.

"Oh my child! Are you alright? You were crying out but you wouldn't wake up!" Toriel asks, worried sick. Sans is sweating.

"you actually had me worried there, kid. tell me when you decide to take a nap, okay?"

"I-I-I..." you stammer, and burst into tears.

"hey, hey. if it was another nightmare, you have to know that they aren't real. papyrus and i get nightmares, too, but we always remind each other that it wasn't real. right now is real," Sans says.

You try to calm down, but that didn't seem like a normal nightmare. It felt much more like déjà vu than a dream. The tears keep coming. Toriel hugs you and gently starts to brush your hair. The careful touch calms you a bit, but the thought of Chara murdering everyone still chills you to the bone.

You realize that you accidentally made a skeleton pun.

Toriel starts to braid little sections of your hair while Sans wipes the tears from your face with a warm, damp cloth. Slowly, your breathing steadies and your heartbeat resumes a normal pace.

Toriel leaves to go make hot chocolate for all of you, but Sans stays with you, hugging you.

"what was your dream about?"

he asks.

"Everyone died."

"i've had dreams like that."

"Everyone. Every single monster in the underground got turned to dust. Because of me. I killed them all."

"oh?"

"And then Flowey came and I killed him five times with a dagger."

"five times?"

"And then a person appeared and introduced themself and told me that every time I gained anything, that feeling was them. I had 20 LV, Sans. 20. And then they offered to erase this world and move onto the next."

"what did you say?" Sans presses.

"I said no." "what happened then?"

"Their eyes turned completely black and said that I was never in control. And their eyes turned red and blood came out of their eyes and they were smiling and they killed me."

"you dream about some dark stuff, kiddo," Sans comments, gently running his bony fingers through your hair.

"They said they were Chara."

Sans freezes.

"chara? the chara that asriel mentioned? the one that flowey kept mistaking you for?"

You just nod.

Toriel comes in with hot chocolate. You sip it gratefully.

Sans ruffles your hair and follows Toriel out of the room. They talk quietly, so you tip toe to the door and listen.

"frisk dreamt about chara."

"So are they dreaming about things that have happened to them?"

"but that didn't happen to them, what they told me. they said in the dream, they were an LV 20. frisk is definitely not an LV 20."

"I'm getting very worried. Each nightmare is worse and worse. If we could just figure out what's causing the nightmares, we could stop it," comes Toriel's voice.

"for now, i could lend you the nightmare blanket. papyrus and i have this blanket that we sleep with when we have nightmares. it actually works, believe it or not," Sans suggests.

"Perhaps that would work," Toriel says thoughtfully, "what if we enchanted dream catchers, as well? I just really want Frisk to get better."

"we could do that. i'll text papyrus and tell him to bring the blanket over."

"I'll go check to see how they're holding up," Toriel says. Quietly, you fling yourself into bed and sip your hot chocolate as if you hadn't just been eavesdropping on a conversation.

Your phone pings. It's Alphys.

(TEXT MODE)

I heard you were having bad dreams a lot.

Yeah

What are they about?

A lot of things

Like what?

Chara, Flowey

Oh

And Sans?

Yeah I had a nightmare about Sans

I'll try to help cure your nightmares

Thanks Alphys! :)

(END TEXT MODE)

Toriel comes in.

"How are you doing?" she asks.

"I think I can try to go to sleep now..." you say. You are actually tired.

"Of course, my child. I'll stay in here if you need me to."

You give a thumbs up and turn off your phone. All of Alphys' status updates are going to drive you insane if you leave your phone on.

Toriel tucks you in and sits on the edge of your bed, stroking your hair gently. Eventually, the calmness Toriel's gentle touch brings you lets you drift off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE SAD OFFICIALLY BEGINS.


	4. Spaghetti & The Opposite of Chill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk stays home with Papyrus for a little while, and while Papyrus makes spaghetti, Frisk forgets to put on the nightmare blanket and has another nightmare.

There's an old, tattered blanket over you when you wake up. There are white dots scattered across it. But when you look closer, they're skulls. This is probably the nightmare blanket Sans was talking about. And it totally worked, just like he said.

It's 9:30. You are probably staying home today. No, wait, you passed out unexpectedly yesterday. You are DEFINITELY staying home today. That's a shame. Today, your class had gym, and Undyne had promised that she would bench press you, along with six other children.

Someone knocks on the door. You quietly tell them to come in and the door swings open, almost hitting the wall. It's Papyrus. Go figure.

"NEVER FEAR, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL COMFORT YOU! AS FRIEND'S DO! YOU WILL HAVE NEVER FELT SO RELAXED IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE!" he promises. You highly doubt that you will be completely relaxed, with Papyrus' shouting and all, but it's the thought that counts. 

"SANS SAID THAT YOU WERE HAVING A LOT OF NIGHTMARES. I ALSO USED TO GET A LOT OF NIGHTMARES. IN FACT, I STILL HAVE THEM SOMETIMES. WHAT ARE THEY ABOUT, YOU PONDER? WELL, ACTUALLY...

THEY'RE ABOUT SANS.

HE ONLY HAS 1 HP, SO I WORRY ABOUT HIM. HE HASN'T HAD TRAINING, LIKE I HAVE. I WORRY THAT HE'LL BE TOO WEAK TO DODGE ATTACKS, AND THAT I'LL LOSE MY ONLY FAMILY," Papyrus says.

You've never seen this side of Papyrus before... Were those tears welling up in his eye sockets?

"SANS WOULD ALWAYS TELL ME NOT TO WORRY, AND I ALWAYS SAID THAT I STOPPED BEING SO PARANOID, BUT I HAVEN'T. SO, WHAT ARE YOUR DREAMS ABOUT?"

You're stunned. You know that Sans is protective of Papyrus, but you never knew that Papyrus was protective of Sans. You don't have the heart to tell Papyrus about your dream where Sans attacked you.

"My dreams take place back in the underground, but everything is different," you say quietly, "like everybody being there except Undyne, or Mettaton ruling the underground, or everybody is dead."

"SANS TOLD ME THAT YOUR DREAMS WERE VERY SAD, AND NOW I SEE WHY. IF YOU WANT TO TALK MORE, I CAN GO MAKE SOME SPAGHETTI AND WE CAN EAT IT WHILE WE DISCUSS YOUR NIGHTMARES," Papyrus offers, "AND IF YOU DON'T WANT TO TALK, I'M STILL GOING TO MAKE SPAGHETTI. BECAUSE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, MAKE THE BEST SPAGHETTI IN THE ENTIRE WORLD!"

That gives you an idea.

"Papyrus, do you know what we would call a fake noodle?" you say mischievously.

"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, HUMAN?"

"An impasta," you reply, grinning. 

"IT IS OFFICIAL, SANS HAS POISONED YOU WITH HIS HORRIBLE JOKES."

"Aw, come on! That one was punny!" You continue.

"THAT'S IT, YOU'RE NOT GETTING SPAGHETTI!"

You rack your brain for more puns, but of course, your brain is failing you. So you start thinking of types of pasta to see if one works for some kind of joke. It turns out that you don't know many kinds of noodles. Then you remember something. There was a thing called a spirali, right? You don't know what it is, but you know it exists.

"Oh no! I've let this joke session spirali out of control!" you cry.

"OH MY GOSH!!"

Sans and Toriel would be so proud of you right now. You decide to go help Papyrus in the kitchen. What would Toriel say if the kitchen was in flames when she returned?

Probably something about how the kitchen was on fire.

You must have stood up too quickly, because your eyes begin to hurt and the world spins a bit. You begin to wonder if you'll pass out again, but you desperately hope not. Papyrus spins on his heels and catches you as you stumble forward.

"FRISK, IF YOU DO NOT FEEL WELL, PLEASE, LAY DOWN," he tells you, concerned. You wonder if you are going to faint again.

Papyrus carries you gently in his arms to the couch, where he lays you. You yawn and rub your eyes, dozing off into a hopefully peaceful sleep.

It's not a peaceful sleep.

***

"She said you.. You hurt a lot of people."

Oh no. Where are you now? You look around. Back in Waterfall, it seems. On the bridge where you saved Monster Kid from falling off of a ledge. Monster Kid is standing in front of you, their head tilted in question and their face slightly concerned.

"But yo, that's not true, right!?"

Oh no. Oh no...

What is your Level of Violence right now?!

"Yo.... Why aren't you answering me? A-a-and what's with that weird expression?"

Unwillingly, you step forward. You tilt your head to the side and grin. Monster Kid's eyes widen enough so that you can see your reflection in them. Your eyes are bright red.

Monster Kid steps backwards, scared. "Oh.. Oh man," they whisper almost to themself, "man, my h-heart is pounding right out of my chest.. What would Undyne do?"

They turn to face you, determination shining in their terrified eyes. With a deep breath, they stammer, "Y-you'd b-better st-stop r-right where you are... Cause if you w-wanna hurt anyone else... you're... You're gonna have to get through me, first. A.. a... and..."

Before they can finish their thought, your soul glows on your chest. You just triggered a fight.

You're in Monster Kid's way.

You survey them, unimpressed. Looks like free EXP.

Horrified at your thoughts, you try to back away, but you can't. Monster Kid quivers anxiously. Against your will, you kick at them, hard. You remember how much ballet shoes can hurt. And how low Monster Kid's HP is.

Out of nowhere, Undyne pushes Monster Kid out of the way and takes the fatal hit. Monster Kid is shocked and Undyne's eyes grow wide.

"Undyne... You're... you're hurt..." Monster Kid whispers in fear.

"Hurt? It's nothing. Next time, listen to me when I tell you to leave, okay?" Undyne says gently. You never realized she cared so much about the children that lived in the underground.

"Undyne... I...."

"I'll take care of this! Get out of here!" she orders. Monster Kid hangs their head and leaves the area.

Undyne's feet start dissolving into dust.

"Heh... 'It's nothing.'.... No... S-somehow, with just one hit.... I'm already... Already... D.... dang it," Undyne's voice starts to shake and her arms and torso begin to turn to dust as well, "Papyrus... Alphys.... ASGORE... Just like that, I... I've failed you."

Her head starts to disintegrate. But the dust flies back together.

"No.... My body... It feels like it's splitting apart... Like any instant... I'll scatter into a million pieces. But... Deep, deep in my soul. There's a burning feeling I can't describe. A burning feeling that WON'T let me die. This isn't just about monsters anymore, is it? If you get past me, you'll... You'll destroy them all, won't you? Monsters... Humans... Everyone... Everyone's hopes. Everyone's dreams. Vanquished in an instant. But I WON'T let you do that. Right now, everyone in the world... I can feel their hearts beating as one."

Undyne's eyes fly open. They look like they belong to a snake. She glares at you with a determined grin on her face.

"And we all have ONE goal. To defeat YOU. Human. No. Whatever you are. For the sake of the whole world... I, UNDYNE, will STRIKE YOU DOWN!"

She explodes into dust and everything goes white.

When you regain your vision, Undyne stands before you, but her armor is stronger. The shoulders are spiked and her hair is blowing in the wind. A large heart is emblazoned on the chestplate and her spear is incredibly sharp.

"You're gonna have to try a little harder than THAT."

The heroine appears.

You are green now.

The spears come at you from four sides. A green shield forms in front of you and you block every single one. Why couldn't you just have a pleasant dream??

After a few rounds of spears being thrown at your face, Undyne the Undying turns your soul red. But you can't flee.

Spears are summoned from everywhere and you dodge multiple. But you fall backwards and one grazes your arm. You kick Undyne in the chest with your ballet shoes, and spears shoot up from below the bridge.

Soon, after multiple rounds of fighting, you have Undyne at low HP. You try to stop yourself from attacking her again, but you can't. It's like you don't have control of your body anymore.

You hit her hard in the chest and she gasps.

"Dang it... So even THAT power... It wasn't enough? Heh... Heheheheh..."

She grins.

"If you... If you think I'm gonna give up hope, you're wrong. 'Cause I've... Got my friends behind me."

Undyne starts to sweat a little.

"Alphys told me that she would watch me fight you... And if anything went wrong, she would... evacuate everyone. By now, she's called ASGORE and told him to absorb the six human souls.."

In horror, you watch as Undyne starts to melt.

"And with that power... This world will live on...!"

She sinks to her knees as her armor drips and her legs turn into liquid.

And with that, she dissolves.

***

You sit up, gasping for breath. You clutch your sweater and stare at the floor in shock. What have you done? 

"HUMAN? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" comes Papyrus' voice from the kitchen.

You don't respond. If Papyrus is alive, Undyne had to be, right? Right?

You pull out your phone and look through the contacts. Everyone's name is on the list. That can only mean that you befriended them all, right? RIGHT?

In a desperate attempt to confirm this, you text Undyne a message.

(TEXT MODE)

Undyne, are you there?

(END TEXT MODE)

You wait, and stare at your phone in anticipation. There's no response for a while. And then your phone vibrates.

(TEXT MODE)

I'm WRESTLING, punk!

(END TEXT MODE)

You sigh in relief and lean back against the cushions. Papyrus comes in, carrying a pot of steaming spaghetti.

He nearly drops the pot when he sees you. But instead, he carefully sets it on the coffee table and crouches in front of you.

"HUMAN, WHY ARE YOU CRYING? DID YOU HAVE ANOTHER NIGHTMARE? OH NO..."

Papyrus takes you in his arms and hugs you close to his chest. You really do have great friends.

"DON'T BE UPSETTI! HAVE SOME SPAGHETTI!" Papyrus cries, handing you the entire pot of spaghetti.

You smile through your watery tears and pile some noodles on to a plate. Hopefully it will be edible. You twirl some onto a fork and gingerly take a bite. Papyrus has really been improving after he started taking cooking lessons from Toriel. It actually tastes decent. For Papyrus.

Papyrus looks very unsure of what to do. His chef hat falls over his eye sockets and he takes it off before removing his apron that says, "Do not kiss the cook, he has no lips". 

"WOULD YOU LIKE TO TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED IN YOUR DREAM? OR DO YOU WANT TO WAIT? UNTIL SANS GETS HERE? SANS SEEMS TO BE THE BEST AT COMFORTING YOU WHEN YOU HAVE BAD DREAMS..."

"Undyne," you say.

"HM?"

"In the dream, I killed Undyne and she melted."

"OH. WELL, FRISK, YOU KNOW THAT DREAMS ARE NOT REAL. RIGHT NOW IS," Papyrus tries to comfort you.

"But it didn't feel like a dream. It felt like it had already happened," you whisper. The nightmare had left you tired. You hadn't actually rested much. Your eyelids grow heavy.

"I SEE YOU ARE TRYING TO ESCAPE OUR DEEP CONVERSATION, TINY HUMAN. BUT IT WILL NOT WORK, BECAUSE YOU NEED THE BLANKET. STAY AWAKE WHILE I FETCH IT FOR YOU. EAT YOUR PASTA. BECAUSE, AS YOU KNOW, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM THE MASTER AT THE CULINARY ARTS!" Papyrus exclaims as he rushes into your room to grab the purple blanket.

You nod and absent-mindedly chew on some spaghetti and look around the living room. There are many photos of you and Toriel. There are a couple of photos with Undyne and Papyrus, but your favorite picture is of all of your friends with you, standing in front of the school. You like to imagine Asriel standing with you.

Papyrus returns with the purple blanket in hand. He wraps it around you and scoops you up into his arms.

"SANS SAID THAT HE CAN'T COME OVER TO US BECAUSE SOMETHING CAME UP AT THE HOUSE, SO WE HAVE TO GO OVER THERE. TO THE CAR!" he shouts, "NYEH HEH HEH!"

You grin as Papyrus carries you out of Toriel's house and towards his red convertible. Papyrus cares so much about you that he'll drop out of helping Undyne out at the school gym just to bring you over to his house. He's such a cute little cinnamon roll.

You just dread the moment where you have to tell Sans about your latest nightmare.


	5. Why You Should Always Carry a Fire Extinguisher

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk and Papyrus head over to the skelebro household and things heat up pretty quickly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit short. Sorry for the long delay between chapters!

Of course, Papyrus drives a convertible. So you burrow down into the blanket and breathe on your hands, trying to warm them up a bit.

"OH RIGHT, HUMANS GET COLD! I FORGOT! HERE, I HAVE ANOTHER BLANKET! NOW YOU'LL LOOK LIKE A BURRITO!"

You look up from your cocoon to see Papyrus holding a tan blanket out to you. Thankfully, he's still looking at the road. You take it gratefully and wrap it around yourself before hiding in the shield of fluff.

The car slows to a stop and Papyrus picks you up, not even letting you stretch your legs. He carries you to the door and opens it carefully, trying not to move you around too much. 

"SANS! WE HAVE ARRIVED! WHERE ARE YOU?" Papyrus announces loudly. The door to Sans' room swings open. He mutters something to himself, tosses a white jacket of some kind back into his room, and rushes down the stairs.

"what was frisk's nightmare about this time?" Sans asks. There are smudges on his skull and a weird gray stain on his shirt. Papyrus doesn't seem to notice, or maybe he just doesn't care.

"What were you doing?" you ask, trying to dodge the question. Of course, it's completely obvious that you don't want to answer Sans, but he doesn't press you to tell him your dream.

"you know, it would be great if you weren't so much like a nosy pepper," he finally replies with. This seems like set up for an incoming pun. Papyrus is incredibly confused. 

"you don't know about nosy peppers? they get jalapeno business."

"OH MY GOSH!" Papyrus cries, and you groan. Why must you suffer through this right now? Sure, you had made bad puns earlier today, but that was because there was no one around to tell them. And Papyrus didn't seem like he was in the pun mood today. But now, Sans is here, and puns have become insufferable yet again. But you still want to know what Sans had been doing.

"What did you spill on your shirt?" you ask quietly.

"probably something from grillby's. it might be from yesterday. when you were at school. so, nosy pepper, what have you been dreaming about?"

You'll accept Sans' answer. It's probably not what it is, but it's possible.

"THEY SAID IT WAS ABOUT UNDYNE! HOLD ON A SECOND, WE LEFT THE SPAGHETTI! I'LL GO MAKE MORE!" Papyrus exclaims, and gently sets you on the couch before running into the kitchen. You can hear pots and plates getting knocked around and there's a loud clatter as the lid of a pot hits the tile floor.

"undyne, huh? that's a bit fishy," Sans remarks as soon as Papyrus is out of earshot. You roll your eyes. "well, if you think of better puns, let minnow." You groan and gently punch him in the arm. Sans shrugs and winks.

A beeping noise sounds from the kitchen. Smoke begins to waft out into the living room.

"oh no what did papyrus set on fire this time?" Sans mutters to himself.

"UM... BROTHER? I THINK I SET THE POT ON FIRE!" Papyrus calls.

"oh, so it's the actually spaghetti that's burning and not the entire kitchen this time," Sans says, and runs into the kitchen. You aren't sure if you should be scared or laughing. This happens regularly, apparently. You wish you brought your portable fire extinguisher that you always bring to Undyne's house. But you didn't have much time to grab it. Whatever. You're sure Sans can handle it. If he isn't too lazy to care.

After a while, the smoke thickens. What the heck is going on? You are forced to lay on the floor to avoid inhaling smoke. Maybe it's best to get out of the house.

Suddenly, the alarm stops beeping and Sans walks out of the kitchen, waving a towel. Papyrus runs into the living room and opens a bunch of windows. You cough a bit as the smoke clears.

"jeez, papyrus, you just can’t go into rooms without things heating up, because you are smoking hot.”

“SANS!”

“You’re coming up with these puns so fast! You’re on FIRE today, Sans!” you offer. Papyrus screams.

***

Surprisingly, the spaghetti isn't burnt. Apparently, Papyrus put a whole bag of Parmesan cheese on top, and that's what caught on fire. So the spaghetti tastes a little strange from the cheese that was on fire, but otherwise it tastes alright. Papyrus has really improved since he started taking cooking lessons from Toriel.

"i have a joke about the Parmesan," Sans brings up.

"DON'T YOU DARE."

"nevermind, it's too cheesy."

You roll your eyes and pull the purple blanket tighter around you. Even thought all the smoke has cleared out, Papyrus insists on keeping the windows open, and now the house is cold. Bored, you check the time. Only 3:30 in the afternoon. It seems way later than that.

Suddenly, Sans sits bolt upright. You tilt your head slightly, confused. Sans merely shrugs it off and says that he's gonna go to Grillby's. That's normal for him, so you roll over on the couch and set your empty plate on the table next to Sans' pet rock. It's covered in sprinkles, as usual.

Something strikes you as odd, though. Sans looked like you do when you forget you had homework and it's midnight. As you stand up, however, you get dizzy. You probably stood up too fast. You stumble a bit and catch yourself on the wall, squeezing your eyes shut until you are able to stand up.

What a weird feeling.

Papyrus pokes his head out from the kitchen. What's he doing now?

"HUMAN.. SO, UM, AS YOU KNOW, CHRISTMAS IS COMING UP... SO... I WAS WONDERING IF YOU WANTED TO SHOP FOR PRESENTS WITH ME? MAYBE?"

You nod your head eagerly. This will be fun.


	6. Christmas Shopping

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus and Frisk go Christmas shopping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is a little late but bear with me as I try to write happy Christmas stuff.

Papyrus beams and drags you out to the car. You wrap yourself in a blanket and a few jackets after buckling up, and the convertible speeds off. Cold air bites your cheek as Papyrus drives down the road to the mall.

When the car comes to a halt, you look up from your cocoon of blankets. The mall looms above you, with large posters declaring sales on everything. 30% off, 50% off, 75% off, you name it. It seems like every store is trying to pull shoppers off the street and into the mall, tricking them into spending a lot more than they originally meant to.

"COME ALONG, FRISK! WE HAVE TO BUY THINGS FOR OUR FRIENDS BEFORE EVERYTHING IS GONE!" Papyrus urges, opening the door for you while you struggle to unbuckle and remove your coats.

Papyrus leads the way, pushing the double doors open wide. He takes great strides forward and then stops, turning to face you.

"FRISK, IS SOMETHING WRONG?" he asks. You haven't moved an inch since he flung open the doors.

Slowly, you shake your head, your mouth open slightly in amazement. Quietly, voice filled with awe, you manage to say, "I've never seen a mall this big before. It's... it's HUGE!"

Papyrus looks up. There are several more floors and about a gazillion shops and restaurants. Escalators stretch from floor to floor and are bustling with busy shoppers carrying about a million bags each. Some talk on cellphones, some hum Christmas songs, some look extremely frustrated, and some look very nervous.

Eventually, you manage to shake yourself from the trance and tug on Papyrus' scarf. Like he said himself, you have to get moving before all the good things are gone.

"YES, YES, OF COURSE, HUMAN. WHO SHOULD WE SHOP FOR FIRST?"

"Undyne," you relpy, spotting a sporting goods store off to your left.

Papyrus follows you as you enter the store and survey the shelves of items. What would Undyne want?

After a while of walking through the store, you pick up a blue softball and a pair of red boxing gloves. They kind of remind you of that tough glove you found in Snowdin.

You're thinking this isn't quite enough, however. You could look for more things in the anime store you saw on the third floor.

You head back to Papyrus with the things you've found. He takes them from you and places them on the counter, where the cashier(who looks a little nervous) scans them and says the cost.

"That'll be 10.57," she says.

You dig around in your pockets and come up with a five dollar bill, along with a few crumpled one dollar bills. Not quite enough. You should have stopped at home first to grab your piggy bank.

Luckily, Papyrus comes to the rescue and pulls out five dollars.

The cashier takes the cash and mutters something to herself as she hands you your change.

Papyus takes the bag and you offer him the change. After all, it seemed only fair. But he waves you off and tells you to keep it because it's Christmas.

"WHO SHOULD WE SHOP FOR NEXT??"

You scan the area, and coming up with nothing, you suggest that you try the second floor.

Papyrus grins even wider as you walk to up to the escaltor. You begin to wonder if he's ever ridden on one before.

When it's your turn, you step onto the first step that rises up and cling onto the railing. Papyrus, a little warry, steps onto the next step and his jaw drops open.

"WOAH!" he exclaims, "HUMAN, WHAT IS THIS STRANGE CONTRAPTION? IT'S LIKE THE CONVEYOR BELTS IN HOTLAND EXCEPT IT GOES UP!!! WHAT?!"

You giggle and say, "It's an escalator."

When you reach the top, you do a quick twirl to see what stores are around you. You realize you never changed out of the clothes you wore yesterday as your little skirt twirls as well. You would rather be wearing some jeans or something, but whatever.

There's a kitchen supply store, a costume shop, a Starbucks, a bookstore, an Apple store, a music shop, and a few other stores that don't interest you.

You suppose Toriel would like some kitchen supplies and some books. Asgore might want a tea set. Mettaton would definitely want something from the costume shop. Napstablook might want something from the music shop.

"Toriel," you say, pointing to the bookstore and then the kitchen supply store. Papyrus practically drags you into the bookstore and looks around excitedly.

You wander around, scanning the book titles to see if anything seems interesting. You spot a cook book, but you don't think Toriel would want it. She doesn't cook the things that the cook book offered recipes for.

Something catches your eye and you gasp. You didn't know they sold this book series anymore! You race over to it and pick up one of the books.

FIVE DOLLARS?!

ONLY FIVE DOLLARS!?!

The book's cover is faded and looks like it's beginning to fall apart. The pages are yellow and the binding is coming apart. This might make someone drop the price if they didn't know that this book series wasn't sold anymore.

Only five dollars! You smile and flip to a random page. The smell of old books is so awesome. 

With a huge grin on your face, you pick out three of the books and carry them over to the register, digging in your pockets to find some change.

When you pull out fifteen dollars, you are very surprised. Where did this even come from? You've probably had it in your coat pocket for months now. Huh.

"Your total is 14.99," says the cashier, smiling. 

You hand him your fifteen dollars and he puts the books in a bag for you. Thanking him, you take it and head over to Papyrus. He doesn't notice you at first, so you tug on his scarf and he turns around.

"DID YOU ALREADY FIND THINGS?"

You nod and tug on his scarf again before heading towards the kitchen supply store.

But as soon as your enter, your hopes drop.

Everything is so expensive! Even for a sale! 70 dollars for a blender? Come on. You've seen blenders for 25 dollars. Small teacups for 15 dollars apiece? What even?! Sighing, you leave the store and look around for Papyrus.

Where did he go? He was following you!

"Papyrus?" you call.

No response.

"Papyrus?!" you start to get a little panicked.

Suddenly, you're swooped up into a hug.

"SORRY I KEPT YOU WAITING, FRISK! I JUST BOUGHT SOMETHING FOR ASGORE."

You let out a sigh of relief and he stands up.

"Who do we shop for next?" you ask Papyrus.

Papyrus looks around and you watch as he spots the costume shop.

"METTATON WOULD LOVE SOMETHING FROM THE COSTUME SHOP!" he exclaims, and walks extremely fast towards it. You have to run to keep up.

Oh yes, Mettaton would DEFINITELY like something from the costume shop.

It's filled with masks, feather boas, elegant gowns, capes, steampunk helmets, fake swords, balloons, and glitter.

You select the fluffiest, pinkest, most glittery feather boa and check the price. Seven dollars plus tax. You wonder if you have any money left.

You look up and see Papyrus gleefully looking at everything, picking out some things and beaming.

He seems to really enjoy shopping for Mettaton.

After what seems like forever, Papyrus slides over to you, holding so many pink, glittery things that it's almost impossible to see him through all of it.

"Um, does Mettaton need ALL of that?"

"WELL, WE DON'T SEE HIM AROUND MUCH, SO..."

"You sure there's not some OTHER reason?"

Papyrus blushes a little.

"I'M SURE."

"Oh really?"

"YES."

"Alrighty then," you say, and help him carry the stuff to the counter.

The cashier looks astonished. It takes nearly five whole minutes to get every item scanned and put in into bags.

"Um.. Your total is 30.45," he says.

Papyrus pulls out his shiny new credit card.

You can't believe how much money he's spent on Mettaton compared to everyone else.

Still grinning, Papyrus takes the bags and leaves the store. You take some from him and point to the music store.

Papyrus nods, and follows you in. You look around and find an awesome color changing speaker for only 20 dollars. Thank you, Christmas sales.

You place it on the counter and the cashier scans it. She smiles at you.

"How are you, sweetheart?"

This is the first time a cashier has ever talked to you.

"Good," you reply, "how are you?"

She smiles a little wider and says, "I'm very good as well."

Unsure of what to say, you just give a slight smile.

"Would you like this in a bag or do you just want to carry it?"

"Um.. In a bag, please," you say. You can never be too safe.

"Alrighty, hun."

The cashier places the box in a bag and hands it to you. You thank her and leave the store with Papyrus. That exchange was a little strange.

You ride the escalator again and Papyrus gasps a little.

"What?" you ask, puzzled.

Papyrus points to the store right in front of you.

It's full of science fiction stuff.

"SANS LOVES SCIENCE FICTION! ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S REAL!" Papyrus says, very excited. He dashes into the store and you follow him.

The first book that you see makes you want to groan.

Science Puns.

You might as well get it. It's only three bucks.

You meet up with Papyrus at the register. He's holding a rolled up poster of some kind.

"What's the poster?" you ask.

Papyrus smiles wider and unrolls it. It's a picture of one of those old police call boxes, but it's in space.

"IT'S FROM A SHOW SANS LIKES TO WATCH SOMETIMES!"

You quickly pay for the items and stop in front of the anime store.

You brace yourself and walk in.

Shelves of anime DVDs and posters of people with strange hair colors line the walls. Figurines of characters from various animes stand on tables. Collectible items sit on shelves. Cosplay materials hang from stands.

With a sigh, you look around. You're pretty sure Alphys has a lot of this stuff already. One anime in particular catches your eye. She probably hasn't seen it. She hasn't talked about it at all, so it's safe to assume she hasn't.

The main character's head kind of looks like an egg, however. It's only five bucks though, so why not get it? After selecting a Mew Mew Kissy Cutie poster that Alphys doesn't have hanging up on her wall or in her room, you head to the blue haired cashier. 

She scans the items and pops a bubble she blew with her gum, looking at you distastefully.

"6.59," she says, scrolling through her phone. She blows another bubble.

 _Rude,_  you think as you hand her a few dollar bills and some change. You take the bags and leave the store, meeting up again with Papyrus, who had just been shopping for some other people he knows.

Your phone buzzes. You have a text from Toriel.

(TEXT MODE)

Where are you and Papyrus?

We're just finished Christmas shopping

It's almost dinner, my child, can you come home?

Yeah

(END TEXT MODE)

You tug on Papyrus' scarf and show him the message.

"RIGHT, OF COURSE! LET'S GO BACK!" he says, and you head out to the car.

What a strange day you've had.


	7. Christmas Eve

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk sees a play, and goes to a Christmas church service with their friends. They also meet up with Asgore again and give milk and cookies to Santa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THIS IS LIKE AT THE END OF JANUARY AND NOWHERE NEAR CHRISTMAS SO PLEASE FORGIVE ME

You awake to your phone buzzing. You're sure that you turned off the alarm, so what could it be?

When you finally roll over and open your eyes, you notice that Papyrus had spammed you with tweets until you woke up.

"Jeez, Papyrus, why all the notifications?"  you tweet back.

His response is shocked.

"DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT DAY IT IS?!?!?!?!" Papyrus tweets in all caps.

You turn to look at your calendar. There's a huge red circle around one of the days, and you squint to read what the date is. You nearly slap yourself when you see the number.

Duh.

It's Christmas Eve. Of course Papyrus would be excited.

There's no chance of going back to sleep, so you unplug your phone from the charger and head down the stairs. As usual, Toriel is making some kind of amazing breakfast when you sit down at the kitchen island.

"Good morning, sleepyhead," Toriel says as she pours you a cup of orange juice.

"Morning, mom," you say back, and wrap your hands around the glass and stare into it, still waking up. 

A waffle is set down in front of you, and you slowly eat it, taking little sips of orange juice. Toriel makes the best breakfasts. No matter what mood someone is in, a breakfast from Toriel will make them cheer up. Even if they're already happy. They will be cheered up.

"Are you excited for Christmas Eve?" Toriel asks.

You nod and look over to the living room. Four stockings hang above the fireplace, one for you, one for Toriel, one for Asriel, and one for Chara. You like to put candy canes in Chara and Asriel's stockings. 

The thought makes you perk up and you swing your feet as you drink the rest of your juice. Before you can put your dishes in the sink, however, Toriel sweeps them off the table and washes them for you. You begin to protest but she tells you to get dressed.

Of course! You're going to a Christmas play!

After a while of browsing your closet, you select a white shirt and red jacket that makes you think of candy canes. You decide to go all out candy cane and put on white leggings, a red skirt, and frilly white socks.

Toriel calls up to you, "Frisk, are you almost ready? We have to catch the bus in fifteen minutes."

"M-hm!"

Quickly, you brush your teeth and hair and race down the stairs, shoving some black dress shoes on your feet. The new shoes squeak on the wood floor and you skid to a stop in front of Toriel.

"You look adorable, my child. Come, we have to go."

Giddily, you skip after Toriel as she leads the way to the bus stop. As soon as you stop moving, the bus pulls up and the doors open. You sit next to Toriel, wishing everyone you can a merry Christmas. They all smile at you and wish you the same thing in return.

***

After the bus stops about five million times, Toriel says that it's time to get off. Almost immediately, you spot the tops of Papyrus and Undyne's heads in the crowd.

"Mom, there they are!" you exclaim, tugging on Toriel's sleeve and pointing over to them. She notices and you follow her over to your friends.

"Well, come along my child."

Once you catch up with them, Alphys hands you your tickets and you follow everyone into the building. 

Excitedly, you sit in your assigned seat right next to Alphys and Toriel. Sans shoots you a grin as the lights dim and someone walks out onstage in front of the curtains. 

"Hello everyone, Merry Christmas!" she says. Her skin is a very nice color, you notice. It looks like a very fancy coffee. 

"Merry Christmas!" everyone in the theatre returns.

"I would like to ask you to turn off your phones and flash on cameras, as it is distracting to performers."

There is a lot of movement and shuffling about as people turn off their phones. You watch as the light on your phone dies and the words "good night" appear. 

"Great. Now that that's taken care of, please enjoy the show!"

The lady steps behind the curtains again there's some sprinkled applause. 

The curtains open and the stage looks like a living room, with a tree and a couch and presents. A girl and her brother open the presents and the girl gets a nutcracker. The nutcracker is a little creepy looking. 

Some stuff happens and all you know is that somehow the nutcracker is alive or something. 

The curtains close and the lady from before steps out and announces the intermission. 

"Wait so what happened? I'm confused," Undyne says. 

Alphys shrugs, and you just shake your head. 

"heck if i know," Sans offers. 

"Human plays are weird," Toriel says, and then goes to buy some snacks. 

The play starts again and there's a sugar plum fairy and princess stuff and you are kind of confused. You enjoy it, though. This is actually the first time you have seen The Nutcracker, which is surprising, because it's pretty well known on the surface. 

"THAT WAS QUITE ENJOYABLE!" Papyrus says as you leave the theatre. You nod in agreement. 

"hey tori, what's the plan for the rest of the evening?" Sans asks. 

Right! It's Christmas Eve!

"I was thinking that we could swing by our houses real quick and then meet up at our house around 5," Toriel replies. You turn on your phone and check the time. It's 4:30.

"I th-thought we were g-going to As-Asgore's?" Alphys asks. 

"That's tomorrow."

"Riiiggghhht. Okay."

"See you soon," Toriel says, and you follow her to the bus. 

***

The doorbell rings and you open the door. Undyne and Alphys stand there. 

"Hey punk, are we late?"

You shake your head and let them both in. 

Sans and Papyrus already sit in the living room with Toriel. 

"So wh-what's going on?" Alphys asks.

"We're all here, so we're going to go down to a church service. You know, Christmas Eve things. Frisk told me that they always go church services on Christmas Eve, so that is what we will do."

"AND THEN WE'LL STAY UP ALL NIGHT WAITING FOR SANTA!" Papyrus adds gleefully. 

***

You see Asgore waiting at the door. 

"Dad!" you exclaim, and run over to him, embracing him in a big hug. 

"Merry Christmas, Frisk!" he laughs, hugging you back.

Asgore carries you into the church and you grab a program as he sets you down. All your friends follow you into the actual church, and you realize that none of them have done this before. 

The service begins and you sing "Away in a Manger", and then someone reads the story about Mary and the manger. 

A few kids wearing costumes reenact the manger scene. One kid wears a blue scarf around her head and holds a baby doll. A guy stands next to her while some kids dressed as shepherds watch as three wise "men" walk up and give "Mary" the gifts.

"Wh-what were the gifts again?" Alphys whispers. 

"Gold, frankincense, and myrrh," you whisper back, and she nods.

You sing a few more hymns and then someone passes around candles. 

"Why do we have candles? Are we going to set something on fire?" Undyne asks. 

You shake your head. "They're for a song?"

"Candles? For a song?"

"Just trust me."

The lights dim and people start lighting each other's candles. The piano starts playing "Silent Night". 

You start to sing along with everyone, waving the candle gently back and forth. This is one of your favorite parts of the Christmas Eve service.

Slowly, Toriel follows along with the song, and Alphys begins to sing as well. Papyrus, Sans, and Undyne begin to pick up on it. 

Soon, the sound of song and the light of candles fills the dark, silent night.

***

"I'm glad we went, that was fun," says Toriel. 

"The part about the-the manger was pretty inter-interesting," Alphys brings up. 

"And the little play that the children put on was adorable," comments Asgore. 

"i dunno, it looked pretty simple to me. some might even call it..."

"NO SANS NOT NOW."

"child's play."

"AAAAARRRGGGHHH!"

Undyne interrupts Papyrus' scream by saying, "I liked waving candles around."

"I liked all of it," you say.

"Well, see you tomorrow," Undyne says, and she and Alphys head off towards a bus stop. 

"as much as we'd like to bug you, i've gotta read paps his bed time story soon," comments Sans, and leads Papyrus away. 

"Merry Christmas, Asgore. See you tomorrow," Toriel says, and you wave to Asgore before following Toriel towards the bus stop.

***

You sign the note for Santa and place it by the plate of cookies. Toriel pours a glass of milk and sets it on the coffee table.

"My child, it is time for you to go to bed. Have you brushed your teeth yet?"

You nod and go to your room. Toriel follows you and tucks you in bed, giving you a goodnight kiss.

"Goodnight, my child. Sweet dreams."


End file.
